Ex-Lobo Bryan going deep with US Women's Flag Football National Team

Laneah Bryan took a quick look around as she walked off the Pit floor on March 22, 2018.

Bryan and the University of New Mexico women’s basketball team just dropped a close third-round WNIT game against TCU and Bryan, a senior, figured it was time to hang up her No. 25 jersey for good.

“Yeah, I thought that was probably the end of my sports career,” Bryan said. “I had some amazing times and made some amazing memories playing at UNM. Everything that’s happened since then, I didn’t see it coming — but it’s been awesome.”

Bryan still sports a No. 25 jersey, but this one is part of a football uniform with “USA” emblazoned across the front. Bryan, 29, recently locked up a spot on the U.S. Women’s Flag Football National Team’s 12-player roster and will represent her country in Panama and China later this summer.

It’s not entirely new for Bryan, who is starting her third year with Team USA and already owns two gold medals. But the former Lobo and Volcano Vista Hawk admits she never saw herself competing as a defensive back/wide receiver at an international level.

“I’ve always loved football,” Bryan said. “I’m a big (Dallas) Cowboys fan; went to games with my dad growing up. But football wasn’t really available for girls back then. After college, I joined a local flag football league for fun and that’s where this journey really started.”

Where might it end? If Bryan gets her way, the finish line could be drawn in Los Angeles, where flag football will gets its first snaps as an Olympic Sport in 2028.

It’s a long-term objective, but one Bryan has in her sights.

“The Olympics are the pinnacle, right?” she said. “Making the Olympic team is exciting to even think about. That’s definitely the goal.”

Hardwood roots

Bryan is only six years into her flag football career, but she has extensive basketball roots in Albuquerque and her native El Paso.

She lived in both cities while growing up and split her high school years between Volcano Vista and El Paso Franklin, enjoying hoops success at both.

Bryan was a second-team All-State pick as a sophomore when the Hawks soared to a Class 5A state championship. As a senior in El Paso, she averaged 20.8 points per game and helped Franklin to a regional title.

Bryan returned to Albuquerque for college and spent four seasons as a steady contributor for the Lobos. She played two seasons apiece for coaches Yvonne Sanchez and Mike Bradbury, appearing in 121 games with 26 starts.

The 5-foot-6 Bryan averaged 4.0 points over her final three seasons, earning consistent minutes as a defensive stopper at the guard positions.

Bryan credits some of her flag football prowess to basketball, particularly when she’s playing defensive back — her primary position with Team USA.

“Having a basketball background does help,” she said. “A lot of us played college basketball and there are similarities with the hand-eye coordination, footwork and conditioning. Starting out as a defensive back, I already knew how to position my body, defend a receiver and stop the ball.”

Bradbury chuckled when asked about helping Bryan prepare for international competition.

“Oh, you mean Laneah the professional football player,” he said. “I follow her on social media and she’s doing really well with that. She’s always been a hard worker and I think it’s great. If she ends up playing in the Olympics, that would be something else. I’m rooting for her.”

X’s and O’s

Like basketball, flag football is 5-on-5 competition without the line play and some of the more intense physical demands of the tackle version. On the defensive side, individual success is measured in pass breakups, interceptions and flags pulled, statistics in which Bryan typically excels.

“I love the defensive side,” she said. “It’s a lot different from tackle football because it’s 5 on 5 and we have so much ground to cover. We do play soft zone sometimes but it usually transitions to man-to-man very quickly. There’s a lot of preparation and just studying your opponent involved.”

Bryan caught the eye of USA Football scouts while competing in recreational tournaments with El Paso teams. She first earned a spot on the national team roster in 2023 and has managed to rise to the occasion in big games.

In 2023 Bryan came up with a late interception to seal a 26-21 win over Mexico in the IFAF Americas Continental Flag Football Championship final in North Carolina. She did it again with a key pick — again against Mexico — in last year’s 31-18 IFAF Flag Football World Championship win in Lahti, Finland.

Team USA earned gold medals on both occasions, but Bryan said the 2024 win was especially sweet.

“After we won in 2023, I actually broke my ankle,” she said, “and it was really a tough process getting back. So, to go to Finland and be able to come back with gold was really important to me. They say Finland’s the happiest place on Earth, too, and I can see why. It’s beautiful.”

Going deep

Having secured a Team USA roster spot for 2025, Bryan is now focused putting together another successful summer. The Americans will meet in Los Angeles this month for a series of exhibition games, followed by The World Games in Chengdu, China in August and the Americas Continental Championships in Panama City in September.

Such extensive travel and preparation are challenging for Bryan, who is co-owner of a roofing and solar company in El Paso. She’s not alone. Most of Team USA’s flag football players also have full-time jobs, Bryan said.

“I have a business partner who really helps make this possible,” she said. “I’m blessed to have a lot of help.”

USA Football covers players’ travel expenses and Bryan has several sponsorships to help alleviate other costs. She also recently earned money playing with Caudillas of Chihuahua in a professional flag football tournament in Mexico.

While high level flag football is still in its early stages, the sport is growing quickly and Bryan is determined to help it along. She has worked youth camps in El Paso, one of which attracted 160 high school-age girls. Thirty-nine Texas high schools competed in flag football in 2024-25.

“Kids are excited about it,” Bryan said. “There’s a lot of growth in the sport and I definitely want to do my part to help.”

Asked if she would have chosen flag football over basketball as a youngster — if such an opportunity had existed — Bryan laughed.

“Gosh, that’s debatable,” she said. “I always loved basketball, but I always had a football with me, too. I don’t know. But if someone had told me I’d be playing flag football now, representing my country, I probably wouldn’t have believed it. I’m definitely happy with the way things worked out.”